Everything Was Beautiful

Everything was beautiful
and for those few hours
perfect

We had just shared
our first bottle of wine

It was something very cheap
a merlot I think
but it was everything I had
to give her

We got out of that place
and walked onto Melrose Avenue
just in time
for one of those
stunning
industrially-altered
Los Angeles sunsets

A fleet of cigarette butts
floated by in the gutter
as we carefully whispered
our dreams to each other

Angeline looked down
from her famous billboard
as I tried to be cool
too young to know any better

A quiet billionaire passed by on the left
brushing my shoulder
as the wine worked my blood
and she unintentionally met my eyes

A Preacher called out
from a corner somewhere
as we watched the neon shop signs
turn on, one by one

Everything was beautiful
and for those few hours
perfect

You see
when that cheap merlot
had hit the table
she smiled at me
knowing I was a bit
embarrassed by it
she took the glass
and sipped it
and enjoyed it
as if it were
the finest Bourdeaux
at a table
in the finest restaurant
in Paris

I believed her

It was